How
to use email to make your customers -- and your bank
account! -- love you
By
Mitch Tarr
One of the greatest benefits of selling online is that
you can offer far more personalized service than you're
normally capable of providing in a purely offline setting.
"...What?" you might be thinking. "How
can you offer MORE personalized service on the Internet
than when you're selling to people face to face?"
The answer is deceptively easy: Email.
By offering valuable information in exchange for your
visitors' names and email addresses, you can build a
huge list of potential customers and then use email
to build a strong relationship with them over time.
When you have an offline business -- without any sort
of online presence to back it up -- your only chance
to connect with your visitors is when they come into
your store.
But when you sell online, you can use email to communicate
with your customers regularly, whether they're at work,
in a coffee shop with their laptop, or in the comfort
of their own home.
However, there are five essential rules you need to
follow in order to make sure your emails make your customers
love you... instead of hate you.
(Because we all know what it's like to receive unwanted
emails from spammers whose only purpose for mailing
you is to try to trick you to part with some cash. You
DON'T want your potential customers to think you're
one of "them.")
Rule #1. Respect your list
One of the greatest benefits of email is that it helps
overcome buyer resistance by encouraging your subscribers
to trust you.
But first, you have to prove you're trustworthy!
You have to respect your list, and think more of THEIR
needs than yours. And you have to meet their expectations
by delivering what you promise.
For example, if they opt into your list because you've
offered them a free report full of valuable information,
make sure you GIVE them a free report full of valuable
information -- NOT a sales pitch.
Also, resist the urge to hammer your list with promotional
emails every single week. The valuable "free info"
emails you send should outnumber the purely promotional
messages. Otherwise, your subscribers will opt out in
droves.
Finally, be sure to include a link to your privacy policy
right in the opt-in box on your site. This reassures
people that you respect their privacy and won't share
their personal information with anyone else -- under
ANY circumstances.
And then make sure you adhere to that privacy policy!
Remember, the opt in is the first experience your future
customers will have with your business. So you have
to make sure it's a positive one.
Rule #2. Get PERSONAL with
your subscribers
People want to deal with PEOPLE, not faceless companies.
So you DON'T want your emails to come off sounding like
they're official, corporate-sounding announcements.
In order to connect with your subscribers, your emails
should be written in a casual, conversational tone.
Write like you're talking to a good friend. Let your
personality shine through.
If you're a funny person, use humor in your emails.
(Without being offensive, obviously.) If you speak with
an accent, let that accent shine through in your writing.
Include whatever characteristics make you, YOU.
It will help your subscribers feel like they know you...
... And that will go a long way to encouraging them
to buy something from you!
Finally, in order to hammer home the point that your
emails are coming from an actual person -- as opposed
to an organization -- make sure the return address on
all your emails has your name in it (i.e., yourname@yourbusiness.com).
Whatever you do, don't use an anonymous address like
info@yourbusiness.com -- or even worse, sales@yourbusiness.com.
They make your email sound way too impersonal, and will
actually discourage people from opening and reading
it.
Rule #3. Give first, get second
This is truly one of the cardinal rules of email marketing:
In order to "get," first you have to GIVE.
Never ask your subscribers to make a purchase unless
you have offered them something of value beforehand.
For example, if you're gearing up for a major promotion,
it's a good idea to send out a few "no strings
attached" emails full of useful information and
THEN follow them up with an email that includes a call
to action.
The same thing is true of your newsletters. If you want
to promote any of your products, make sure you include
lots of free valuable information in the newsletter
BEFORE you get to the product "plug."
That way, people won't mind so much if you ask them
to buy something. After all, you've just given them
a whole lot of useful content for free!
Plus, if your content really is valuable, it'll convince
your readers that your product or service is valuable,
too.
Rule #4. Split-test EVERYTHING!
I'll admit it: I'm an absolute NUT for testing.
But when most email software these days allows you to
test absolutely every single aspect of your marketing
efforts -- so you can discover exactly what's working
and what's NOT -- why on Earth would you not take advantage
of that ability?
When it comes to your email campaigns, I strongly urge
you to test as many different elements as possible.
These include:
- Your offer: Try testing different
price points, different bonuses to go along with
your main product, different product "bundles"
-- as many variables as you can come up with.
- Different segments of your list: Send the same offer to different segments of your
list (e.g., your customers vs. your subscribers)
- Subject lines: This is the first
point of contact with your audience. Your subject
line has to grab their attention and encourage them
to open your email!
- The email itself: Be sure to
test different email messages to see which one encourages
the greatest number of buyers through to your salesletter.
- Different calls to action: You
never know what language is going to get your readers
to click on your call to action! Maybe they'll respond
to a simple "click here." Or maybe they
like more casual language, such as "check it
out by visiting..." Maybe they don't need the
URL written out for them -- or maybe they do.
The only way to know for sure is to test different
calls to action -- and see which works best for
you!
- Time to send: Which day of the
week yields the best response? And which time of
day? Will you get better results if you send on
Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. -- or Sunday at 8:30 in the
morning?
Once again, the only way to know for sure is to
TEST.
Most email marketing solutions allow you to do this
kind of testing. If yours doesn't, it's time for you
to start looking for a new software package or service
provider.
Rule #5. Follow the rules!
The rules I'm talking about here are the international
laws that outline what emailers can and cannot do in
order to avoid being labeled as spammers.
Some of the things you'll need to do are...
- Include your physical address in every email
- Include easy-to-follow "unsubscribe"
information in every email
- Remove your "unsubs" from your list
within the required 14 days
- Remove all "hard bounceback" email addresses
from your subscriber list
These are just of the few of the rules regarding email.
If you want to learn more of them, go to: www.spamlaws.com.
There you'll find everything you need to know about
the CAN-SPAM Act, which regulates emailers who live
in the United States, as well as the rules that apply
to Europe and elsewhere.
One last thing: Be extremely wary of lists for purchase!
Often you'll come across sites offering to sell you
something like a list of a million names for the low,
low price of $59.95.
Buying a list like this might seem like a good idea...
but it's not.
Chances are, the names and emails were taken without
the people's permission. So when your emails start showing
up in their inbox, they're going to think you're a spammer,
and may even report you to their ISP or an anti-spam
organization like SpamCop.
Bam! Now you're blacklisted and aren't allowed to send
email to anybody. Definitely not worth $59.95, is it?
Even if the people on the list DID give their permission
to be put on it, the majority of them simply aren't
your target market, and won't be interested in your
offer.
And why go to the trouble of emailing someone who's
never going to buy anything from you?
All right... so those are my top five rules for smart
email marketing.
Just remember, if you follow the rules and be a good
"email citizen," then you will be able to
grow a responsive list of subscribers who will be eager
to read your emails.
And a responsive email list = more sales for you!
[Ed. Note: Mitch is IMC's Vice
President of Marketing.] 
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